Roadway traffic authorities recognize traffic information as highly important. Such information can facilitate traffic monitoring, safety research, and law enforcement, among other necessary and worthwhile governmental activities. In attempting to exploit the potential value of traffic information, the authorities have endeavored to capture, process, store, and utilize such information in a variety of ways.
It is now common for intersections to be equipped with traffic detection devices capable of detecting a vehicle's approach to an intersection. Such information can be processed, for example, to initiate a traffic signal sequence that will change the signal's state from red to green.
A law-enforcement application of the above processes has been to activate an image capture device at the intersection to record one or more images of a vehicle in the commission of a traffic violation. Authorities are especially interested in exploring ways to address speeding and red light violations using current and future technology.
Frequently, some or all traffic information is stored for some period of time and subsequently aggregated by one or more devices present at a traffic intersection. Once aggregated, such information is occasionally transmitted to a central station for storage and further processing. However, it has not been the practice to transmit individual vehicle information to the central station, resulting in a substantial loss of information which otherwise could have been stored and used in future projects (e.g., ongoing traffic management, update of existing traffic models, or real time analysis, etc.) and for other purposes.
Moreover, to the extent that a substantial portion of information processing occurs at individual traffic intersections, overall equipment needs are higher which drive greater overall costs.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and system which enables continued capturing of distributed individual vehicle information, while also facilitating centralized processing and storage of the individual vehicle information.